quincy
Senior Member
If an employer tells other employees that this guy is a loser, that is an opinion that would be unwise perhaps for any employer to make but it is one that is subjective and could not support a defamation claim. If an employer tells other employees that this guy can't be trusted, however, that implies facts that, if not true, could support a defamation claim. The employer, if he says anything at all, should provide examples as to why he has concluded the employee is untrustworthy (ie, true facts that the employee has lied about such and such or something). That way, the employees are able to draw their own conclusions based on the disclosed facts.Quincy, my question is, if the employer tells other employees this guy is a loser, can't be trusted, has perhaps done something dishonest...even so, what would be his demonstrated losses as a result of it? I thought, please educate me, that there had to be some potential that the employee so maligned had to be able to show that it had hurt him in some way other than his feelings and sense of well being.
While the employer certainly should be careful to say only true things about the worker, it has been my experience that many many employers create falsehoods and reasons to terminate that have very little to do with reality, have never really seen this followed through on with a defamation action. Is it possible, likely, a potential to prove that the employer has lied and sue them for defamation?
One of the least understood aspects of defamation is the fact that the injury in defamation is to the reputation of a person and demonstrated damages do not have to be monetary losses. There are many ways reputational injury can be demonstrated that do not include economic losses.
What needs to be shown is that defamatory statements were made and damage to one's reputation has followed the defamatory statements. Proof of reputational injury that can support an award of damages can be resulting health issues (sleep problems, drinking problems, appetite problems, emotional problems) or evidence of shunning by others as a result of the defamatory statements. In some cases, the defamed person's own hearsay testimony can be sufficient to show this reputational "loss."
Beside general damages awarded for reputational injury, there can be compensatory damages awarded - and here is where monetary losses come into play. Actual monetary losses (loss of income, loss of promotion, etc) can be used to support an award of damages. A defamed person can show what his earning capacity was pre-defamation and what his earning capacity is post-defamation. Experts can be called on to show earning trends, and what the potential earnings are ordinarily in the defamed person's field. The defamed person can be compensated not only for the actual losses he has suffered, but also for being deprived of future earnings due to the reputational injury suffered as a result of the defamatory statements.
And then there is the possibility of an award of punitive damages, for defamatory statements that are especially egregious.
With all of that said, defamation suits may not be filed by an employee against his employer because an employee finds another job, or he does not realize he has legal options available, or he cannot afford the legal options available, or he has weighed the pros and cons of suing his employer and the cons outweigh the pros, or the facts do not sufficiently support a successful action. . . . there are all sorts of reasons.
Defamation suits are not rare but those filed by employees against employers may be settled quickly to avoid public scrutiny.
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